Application Ser. No. 09/339,713 describes a container having one end specifically designed to hold frozen beverage while the rest of the container would hold unfrozen beverage. Such a container has the desirable characteristic that the frozen beverage will keep the unfrozen beverage cool for an extended period of time. The patent application also described special dual-temperature refrigeration equipment that would be used to freeze such a container. Such refrigeration equipment is described in more detail herein. In order to freeze a portion of a beverage within a container, it is necessary to provide an environment for a portion of the container that is below the freezing temperature of the beverage. To simultaneously keep the rest of the beverage unfrozen, the rest of the container must be exposed to an environment that is above the freezing temperature of the beverage.
Equipment for providing such dual-temperature environments can come in many varieties. For example, the simplest version is a heated enclosure within a freezer. The heated enclosure surrounds the majority of the beverage container, but a portion of the container protrudes out of the heated enclosure into the sub-freezing environment of the freezer. Thus the portion of the container within the heated enclosure is maintained at above-freezing temperatures, while the portion of the container protruding out of the enclosure sees the sub-freezing temperatures needed to freeze a portion of the beverage. Other types of dual-temperature refrigerated equipment include: walk-in coolers, freezers, and display cases, reach-in coolers, freezers, and display cases, vending machines, transport refrigeration and domestic refrigerator/freezers.
Refrigeration equipment that simultaneously provides two different temperatures, one above freezing and one below freezing, are extremely common and well known. For example, the typical domestic refrigerator/freezer provides freezing temperatures for frozen goods in one compartment while simultaneously providing above-freezing temperatures for beverages and other non-frozen perishables in an adjacent compartment. Likewise, refrigeration equipment in grocery and convenience stores for frozen goods and for refrigerated (non-frozen) goods is often found side-by-side, and may be part of a common refrigeration system. However, such equipment does not provide an opening between the two compartments necessary to expose a single container to both compartments at the same time so that a portion of the container's contents can be frozen while the rest is maintained unfrozen.
The primary objective of this invention is to provide a dual-temperature environment for one or more containers so that a portion of the contents of the container(s) is caused to freeze while the rest of the contents remain unfrozen.
Another primary objective of this invention is to provide a dual-temperature refrigeration device that is suitable for use in grocery, convenience store and other retail locations.
Another primary objective of this invention is to provide a dual-temperature environment within a beverage-container vending machine.
Another primary objective of this invention is to provide such a dual-temperature refrigeration device that can be used to freeze or keep frozen beverage containers while they are being transported.
Another primary objective of this invention is to provide a dual-temperature environment within a domestic refrigerator/freezer.
It should be understood that nothing stated herein, including without limitation reference to my previous application, is admitted to be "prior art" but is instead described to help place the present invention in context.